Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) Trading Down 5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z)’s share price was down 5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $95.00 to $70.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Zillow Group traded as low as $32.90 and last traded at $32.2310. Approximately 1,145,814 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 4,203,515 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.93.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on Z. UBS Group reduced their target price on Zillow Group from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Zillow Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Zillow Group from $84.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Zillow Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeremy Hofmann sold 5,501 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.40, for a total transaction of $205,737.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,554,981. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Jeremy Wacksman sold 9,072 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.54, for a total transaction of $331,490.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 153,699 shares in the company, valued at $5,616,161.46. This trade represents a 5.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 42,910 shares of company stock worth $1,605,732 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 25.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Zillow Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in Z. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Zillow Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $196,677,000. Scge Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Zillow Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $133,990,000. L1 Capital Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 24,803.7% during the 4th quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 1,729,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,369 shares during the last quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC now owns 7,368,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soma Equity Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 389.5% during the 3rd quarter. Soma Equity Partners LP now owns 1,468,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,168,492 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Zillow Group Trading Down 7.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 126.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.58.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $708.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $705.10 million. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 2.27%. Research analysts forecast that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group, Inc is an online real estate marketplace company that operates a portfolio of consumer-facing websites and mobile apps designed to connect buyers, sellers, renters, homeowners and real estate professionals. The company’s platforms aggregate property listings, rental listings, and related information to help users search for homes, estimate property values and connect with agents and service providers. Zillow generates revenue primarily through advertising and lead-generation services for real estate professionals, property managers and mortgage lenders.

Key products and services include the Zillow and Trulia consumer websites and apps, which provide searchable listings, photos, neighborhood data and the company’s automated home valuation tool known as the “Zestimate.” Zillow also offers a rentals marketplace, a mortgage marketplace and tools for home buying and selling such as Zillow Premier Agent for agent advertising and leads, as well as ancillary services designed to support transactions, including closing and title-related offerings.